Fitzgerald Apartment building with Barnes & Noble bookstore, University of Baltimore campus

Fitzgerald Apartment building with Barnes & Noble bookstore, University of Baltimore campus
Originally uploaded by rllayman

Both Johns Hopkins University and the University of Baltimore have relocated their student bookstores to more accessible points either on their campus or nearby

JHU's bookstore is now in Charles Village as part of a mixed use dormitory building).

At the University of Baltimore, the bookstore is part of a two building apartment complex called The Fitzgerald that has been constructed on what had been a big parking lot (if you ever went to Artscape, it was where the food court was). The amazing thing about this apartment building complex is that it abuts the Baltimore light rail system and is a 5 minute walk to Penn Station, for access to Amtrak and MARC passenger trains, as well as the Baltimore Circulator bus, plus the MTA buses on Charles and St. Paul Streets, AND if you are a reader, it's across the street from the University Library. Plus it's a short walk to MICA and is part of the Mount Royal and the Station North Arts Districts. As far as apartments in Baltimore go, I can't think of a much better location.

In DC, Howard University's bookstore is placed similarly, on Georgia Avenue, but because it's in an area of Georgia Avenue that is for the most part disconnected from non-university residential areas, it doesn't have the same kind of impact.

In DC, GWU's bookstore is basically accessible but most people don't know about it, while Georgetown and Catholic University could consider placing their student bookstores in adjacent commercial districts, to improve interaction between their respective campuses and the community.